The United Nations (UN) members have recently agreed on a High Seas Treaty to ensure the protection and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The consensus happened during the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) in New York, led by the UN. All eyes are now on the member states as the treaty is yet to be ratified. Once this occurs, the pact will become legally binding.
Understanding the High Seas
Parts of the sea outside of territorial or internal waters of a country are known as the high seas, as outlined in the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas. These are areas beyond a country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), extending up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coastline, where the nation has jurisdiction over living and non-living resources. No country has responsibility for managing or protecting resources on the high seas.
For perspective, these high seas account for over 60% of the world’s ocean area and cover about half of the Earth’s surface, providing habitat to approximately 2.7 lakh known species. Their importance lies in their role in climate regulation, resource provision, solar radiation storage, and heat distribution around the globe.
Threats to the High Seas
Despite their invaluable contribution to mitigating climate change effects and supporting ecological diversity, the high seas face significant threats. These include heat absorption, the El Nino phenomenon, acidification, and numerous anthropogenic pressures such as seabed mining, noise pollution, oil spills, untreated waste disposal, overfishing, introduction of invasive species, and coastal pollution. Alarmingly, these vast ocean expanses remain one of the least protected areas with only about 1% of it under protection.
Notable Aspects of the High Seas Treaty
In the absence of a comprehensive legal framework covering the high seas, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decided in 2015 to develop a legally binding instrument within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The key features of the treaty include setting up an access- and benefit-sharing committee, conducting environmental impact assessments before exploiting marine resources, obtaining consent from Indigenous communities before accessing their marine resources, and setting up a Clearing-House mechanism. The treaty also establishes a specialized funding mechanism to support its implementation.
Relevance of the Treaty
This treaty can significantly contribute towards achieving the 30×30 target set at UN CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) COP15, under which countries agreed to protect 30% of oceans by 2030.
Other Related Conventions
Apart from the High Seas Treaty, several other conventions related to seas are in place. These include the Convention on Continental Shelf 1964 for exploring and exploiting natural resources of the continental shelf, the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of Living Resources of the High Seas 1966 to prevent overexploitation of high seas resources, the London convention 1972 to prevent sea pollution by dumping wastes, and the MARPOL Convention (1973) to manage marine pollution caused by ships.
Way Forward
For the High Seas Treaty to become effective, national governments need to formally adopt and ratify it as an urgent priority. By better protecting the high seas and managing their resources more carefully, it is hoped that the cumulative impact of potentially harmful activities such as industrial fishing and shipping will be mitigated. A sustainable blue economy is the desired outcome, benefiting not just people, but nature as well. The time has come to give our oceans the protection that they rightly deserve.
